Rhame Avenue Elementary School students spent the month of May discovering that a healthy lifestyle isn’t just about staying active — it also includes exercising the mind through reading.
The school’s annual Pick A Reading Partner, or PARP, program returned this spring with the theme “Reading for a Healthy You,” encouraging students to connect literacy with physical and mental wellness through a monthlong series of activities. Organized by Rhame Avenue’s reading teachers Sherina Lugo, Michelle Rodgers and Anthony Weber, the program concluded on June 5 with the school’s first-ever Zumba Challenge after students surpassed their goal of reading 50,000 minutes.
“It’s a celebration of literacy,” Lugo said. “We’ve been doing it each year, and it gets bigger and bigger.”
Each week focused on a different wellness theme, including kindness, gratitude, friendship, self-care and mindfulness. Students recognized examples of those traits throughout the school, completed reading journals and gratitude journals, and participated in activities designed to reinforce the connection between healthy habits and reading.
“We wanted to show students that just as taking care of your body physically and mentally makes you stronger, reading makes your brain stronger,” Lugo said.
Throughout the month, students celebrated literacy in a variety of ways. East Rockaway High School varsity and junior varsity baseball players, accompanied by physical education teacher James Hickey, visited classrooms to read with students and discuss the importance of balancing academics, athletics and wellness. A kickoff pep rally featured yoga and meditation led by district Director of Humanities Kristen Anisis and social worker Maureen Shutta, while students also enjoyed Book Bingo, a pajama-themed snack-and-story event, buddy reading with older students and a schoolwide Read Outside Day.
The reading department set milestone goals to keep students motivated. After reaching 10,000 minutes, Principal Jack Bixhorn dressed in a rock star costume chosen by the winning class. At 25,000 minutes, students enjoyed music during lunch, and once they exceeded 50,000 minutes, the entire school celebrated with an outdoor Zumba session led by Rhame parent and certified instructor Susana Tierney. Fred Cange, East Rockaway High School’s security guard and coach for football, girls basketball and girls flag football served as the event’s master of ceremonies.
“We set small goals and an ultimate goal to encourage them as we went along,” Rodgers said. “Every week they were coming in with more and more minutes.”
Weber said activities throughout the month helped students see reading in a new light, especially when they required pairing up with buddy classes.
“They love hanging out with their older buddies,” Weber said. “Even the sports kids are into wellness, and they loved having the baseball players come.”
Rodgers said the excitement surrounding PARP continues to grow each year, and the team hopes students leave with more than prizes.
“The excitement of reading and having a love of reading,” she said. “That’s what we want them to take away.”
